This is what bugs me the most...how the heck can JVG not see this? Rafer is much better when rested, he can not play that many minutes...JVG has to trust either JL3 or V-Span to play 12-18 minutes a night.... JVG is limiting the team to a performace level defined by his worst starter...and that is not just dumb....it is stupid. DD
Rafer kept getting a good look at the back of Jaret Jack's jersey as he kept blowing past him. The jersey kept sending subliminal message to Rafer. Rafer kept "jacking" on the other end.
Exposed? No, not really, I just see no sense in arguing with stubborness. All i did was present stats that worked in rafer's favor, and then of course, all of a sudden, those particular stats are simply because "he's on the floor with the team's two best players." I'm beginning to notice its a double standard when it comes to Alston. When the losses come, yall (or most) blame him. But if he plays good, well, it's because he's on the floor with Yao and TMac and what not. Whatever. It appears that it's just easy to pick on Alston. That's fine, if that's what works for yall, then so be it. Apparently, the man can do no right, and if you seriously, honestly, in all sincerity think that it's just the PG position that's holding the rockets back from achieving their potential, that's on you. I'm sure there's many, many, many others within the organization who feel differently. I'm sure JVG isn't sitting in his office, crying "Man, if only Rafer wasnt our PG." But that's what yall like to think, then go ahead. Am I saying Rafer is the best PG for this team? Of course not, someone like Billups, Chris Paul or along those lines work much better. But it's wishful thinking. At the time, and with what's available, he's the best option at PG. Simple as that. This team won't win a ring just because Rafer's running the show. I feel very confident he could direct a championship team, but that's my opinion, and I really don't care if you disagree. But other things haunt this team to a much greater extent: lack of frontcourt depth (our 4 spot is atrocious), lack of athleticism (which will be aided when Snyder returns), and there's no continuity on offense. Not as far as individual production, but from no creativity within the system. No variations. That's coaching. But I'm gonna stop making a big deal of Alston. There's no point anymore (no pun intended). The bottom line is that JVG and the team have no issues with Alston, and that's what matters most. If an insider can prove me wrong, please do. But Alston will NOT be traded, and his minutes will not be reduced. Aside from McGrady, he's the best playmaker on the team, and one of our most reliable players. He's not going anywhere, no matter how much you plead and beg and think the organization is taking this board's opinion into account.
You got that right!! On a serious note, actually they do. That's why they tried so hard to get Mike James this offseason.
Rockets111, I think we've good discourse in the past, so I don't mind you supporting Rafer, because we need the debate on the bbs. I've been pretty clear and consistent on my stance with Rafer throughout the year. I don't like him, but he's the best guy available in my opinion to be point guard. Rafer has played crappy lately, but these losses aren't solely on his shoulders. Rafer turns the ball over because of mental error, like trying to throw a cross court pass when he should just bring it up, or throwing a bad skip pass or something. Head's turnovers are because of a lack of ball-handling talent...the guys just isn't full time point guard material at all. The lack of front court depth and athleticism are very big problems too, you're correct sir. But it's the same argument with Rafer, that's the best the Rockets have. You should own up though, on totally being wrong about Rafer not needing to shoot well for this team's success. I'm not sure if you stated that, but Clutch claims it so, and he usually has 100% proof when he makes those statements. I'm still not sure of what the Rockets should pursue this Summer: a quality wing player, an athletic PF, a backup C, or a PG...I'm leaning towards an athletic PF/C. JHo has been playing out of his mind...he actually did way better guarding Randolph tonight than Hayes. Hayes is a great hustler, but sometimes is just too overmatched in size, length, and strength. I already stated that Rafer most likely won't get traded this year and the Rockets won't acquire a PG unless it's Chucky Atkins, Tyronne Lue, or Delonte West. But look up my old link in the earlier post I made in this thread. It shows that Luther is getting the minutes late instead of Rafer, when the team was healthy. So I really disagree with you there. Rafer's minutes will go down when the team is healthy. That's because T-Mac will assume Rafer's PG duties when he returns. That's no knock on Rafer's abilities and it's no real promotion of Head. It's just that Head is a better shooter than Rafer. There's no argument from me that Head is a suckass point guard, because he is...and he's as equally inept defensively as Rafer is...actually Head is slightly quicker, but somehow slightly worse at keeping his man in front of him...they're both just really bad defenders. The Rockets just cannot afford to go Small Backcourt anymore. It destroys their defense, and total makes an already undersized team lose more length. So really, when it comes to a healthy team, do you really think Rafer is going to get the nod over Head and continue to play 40+ minutes a game? Rafer still might get more time than Head, but Head is going to play crunch time because of his shooting, and T-Mac will be the point man, and the rest of the guys have to be taller.
Well, with all the Maggette trade speculation and Livingston playing well for the Clippers...how about this trade idea . Houston Trade Breakdown Outgoing Bob Sura 6-5 from Florida State No games yet played in 2005/06 Rafer Alston 6-2 PG from Frenso State 12.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.8 apg in 38.6 minutes Juwan Howard 6-9 PF from Michigan 11.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.4 apg in 31.7 minutes Incoming Sam Cassell 6-3 PG from Florida State 17.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 6.3 apg in 34.1 minutes Corey Maggette 6-6 SG from Duke 17.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.1 apg in 29.6 minutes Change in team outlook: +11.1 ppg, -1.7 rpg, and +0.2 apg. L.A. Clippers Trade Breakdown Outgoing Sam Cassell 6-3 PG from Florida State 17.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 6.3 apg in 34.1 minutes Corey Maggette 6-6 SG from Duke 17.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.1 apg in 29.6 minutes Incoming Bob Sura 6-5 from Florida State No games yet played in 2005/06 Rafer Alston 6-2 PG from Frenso State 12.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.8 apg in 38.6 minutes Juwan Howard 6-9 PF from Michigan 11.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.4 apg in 31.7 minutes Change in team outlook: -11.1 ppg, +1.7 rpg, and -0.2 apg. Successful Scenario Due to Houston and L.A. Clippers being over the cap, the 25% trade rule is invoked. Houston and L.A. Clippers had to be no more than 125% plus $100,000 of the salary given out for the trade to be accepted, which did happen here. This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. ----------- Rockets would throw in a draft pick or two, and cash. Clippers would do this to get rid of a malcontent and to secure a long-term backup point guard. Yeah, I know it's wishful thinking .
If you guys can read chinese, you should visit here. http://bbs.hoopchina.com/htm_data/44/0612/148269.html What I said is Alston is a very good fit for rockets. I am too lazy to translate it in English. The good thing is, people read this post admit that.
1st part I agree. He is too much to blame and their are ther issues certainly bigger right now (part with Snyder out and Bonzi not in form). 2nd part, no. They tried to give his job (starting 1) to Mike James. That wasn't a vote of confidence. If they can upgrade over Alston, with or without him in that acquisition, they will.
Right guys, since there's one post that has statistics and lots of words in it, I'm translating that: Rockets have already found their right formation of guards! Now there is a lot of discussion about Alston, and as a intelligent basketball fan, I must say that Alston is the best fit in the gruop of Rockets guards. 1. Hindsight Reason 1: Alston is, for now, the best passer to Yao (ie, entry passes) of the guards. no matter if it's SF3, Sura, or 'the fake leader' (I think he's talking about Mike James), on this point they can be more accurate than Alston. remember before Alston came everybody wanted a passing pointguard, now the Rockets have found it. Reason 2: Alston is the best ball handler for hte Rockets so far. As an And1 freak, Alston handling the ball holds no worries. From the backcourt to front court, he flows like the clouds and water (typical Chinese sayings ). This sort of guard are hard to come by. 2. Compared to other guards Alston's efficiency is ranked 21st among the point guards. http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/stats/07/18/eff The first ten, are basically the elite point guards, I think nobody would compare Alston to them. If you do, then I'm speechless. In the 11-30 range, Alston is in the middle, not exactly high, but not too low. (I don't understand the next sentence, so somebody better at Chinese than me please translate) 在不考慮其他任何因素的情況下也是拿的出手的。 A lot of people think that the statistics of 'eff' aren't reliable, and to add some more, per, eFG. Alston: eFG 47.8%, PER: 13.3 Opponent, eFG: 45.4%, PER 15.3 Alston http://www.82games.com/0607/06HOU2C.HTM Alstonisn't too far behind from the opponent (behind by 2), and his shooting efficiency is better than the opponent's. That means that Alston is better and getting the ball into the basket but needs to strengthen on controlling the opponent's field goals. Below is Head's stats: Head http://www.82games.com/0607/06HOU3C.HTM An interesting stat is when Head is the point guard, the opponent's shots' efficency rises significantly. I'll shut up if Alston is guarding scrubs. Head, as a point guard, is behind by 7.7 in PER compared to the opponent. This is by no means looking down on Head. 3. Money Alston is 106th in the NBA, getting 385 million for salary. His salary isn't that much. 4. Is he a good fit for the Rockets? What's the Rocket's idea offense? Obviously it's the super center and the three pointers. Alston as a three point shooter is passable. The average 3% is 34.7%. Alston's three's are at 36.4%. In the first three quarters, Alston shoots 34%, and 48.1% in the fourth, upping his game in crunch time. 5. Can Alston go up? Alston's current level can't be said as good. As a 30 year old veteran, can he go up? This is very important. The answer is Alston can. In the summer, his 3-point practices have paid off. If he can maintain the level of play with layups and mid-range shots, then he can become a championiship point guard. Notice Parker's mid-range shots and layups (floaters?) are also from practice, Alston has the ability to do this. 6.Is there a better point guard than Alston? Look at the top ten point guards and you can get the answer. But if you htink deeper, you'll know it's a r****d talking dreams (another Chinese saying ) From one side, the salary cap doesn't let every position be filled with All-stars, and on the other hand, even if the rockets have salary space, will they get what they want with a click of fingers? With the above six point, I can say that the Rockets have found the true point guard! (later added) Edit: somebody thinks that Alston's accuracy is absolutely horrible, look at the Rocket's % (eFG) Alston eFG% 47.8% Yao: 52.1% T-Mac: 45.9% Battier: 56.7% Head: 58.7% V-Span, 35.6% Lucas: 47.4% Alston is in the last leg of the team, but he is not the worst, that's t-Mac with 45.9% and V-Span with 35.6%. Also his EFG is better than his opponent's eFG (45.4%) ------------------------ Phew, long post. Now I know how poor pryuen feels every day!
Kim, I like your analyses about the possible PG acquisitions for the teams, but there are some things you probably overlooked. I don't have the solid stats for this, but Tyronn Lue was known as a pesky defender early in his career, and I don't dispute that. From what I've seen, he's a disruptor. Meaning he comes in and he plays with energy, kinda like Chuck Hayes. Problem is, he's also undersized at barely 6'0". He can disrupt all he wants, but even as a key backup, opponents are going to exploit him all day long. And if you watch him play, he is definitely not a point guard. He's got handles, he can shoot, and he can pass reasonably well, but that's it. Lue cannot set offenses worth a lick, and that's part of the reason why that '03-'04 Magic team and our '04-'05 team did so badly with him at the point. Arguably, he's even worse than Head at organizing the offense. Besides, what we want when we acquire a PG now, is an upgrade for Rafer. With Lue, what you're basically getting is a shorter version of Luther Head, who we already have as a backup combo guard. Chucky Atkins is decent. Even though the fans in LA were bashing him left right and centre, imo he did well there with Kobe. Big problem with him is, he isn't much of an upgrade over Alston. If Alston can't throw decent re-entry passes consistently, then I think you guys are gonna be even more disgusted with Atkins. And Atkins is arguably an even worse gunner than Alston. He's also less steady with the ball. Delonte West is solid. But again, like what you said, he's probably unattainable. He guns, but West can definitely create AND convert for himself, and has a solid jumper from all around to boot. I have really no complains with him. But all 3 of them aren't standout defenders. West has probably the most potential out of the 3 defensively, while Atkins is probably the worst. If we can get Delonte West, then we definitely should look into trades. But if not, Rafer is pretty decent for now. I think part of the reason why everybody is hating on him is still because of the hangover from the Mike James trade, but look at James now, he's definitely not producing up to his standards for the Wolves. A more pressing issue is the PF spot imo. Between Chucky and JHo, we have adequate rebounding, one fouling machine, a couple of bad hands and one shaky jumpshot.
Forget V-Span! He will not play again this season (except for garbage time). I can imagine that he will be traded next year or even return to Europe! Don't forget what happened to Macijauskas last year, he was sick of warming the bench the whole year and decided to go back to Europe to sign a multi-million-€-contract and playing 30 min per game. I can imagine that V-Span will also take it into account next summer...
what i don't understand is that we are actually calling plays for rafer! When the hell do we ever call plays for rafer? I understand tmac is out, but there is no need to run a pick and roll with rafer and yao. Its very simple, when yao is in the game, post him up everytime...it draws somebody to be open on a cut or wide open 3 on good ball movement. When yao is out, POST UP BONZI! I dont believe he got enough touches last night. Those are the best percentages of scoring that we will have while tmac is out. 4 fourth qtr points by yao! WHY! Because every play was a pick and roll for rafer down the stretch. Although that last pick n roll shocked the hell out of me with luther and yao, when we were down by 2......POST UP YAO! Point is, dont call plays for your PG unless your PG can shoot better than 40%.
